CIRCUMSTANCES:Janine
was last seen around 4am on Friday, 7 December 2001 in Keppel Street,
Bathurst. At this time she was seen to enter the front passenger seat of a
bright red coloured four door medium size sedan similar to a Mitsubishi
Magna of a Toyota Camry. Janine has not been seen or heard from since and
fears are held for her safety and welfare.

Reported missing to: Bathurst Police Station.

MY FRIEND JANINE.

Always ready for a laugh is Janine.
She is always honest, and ever so keen,
To give me advice,though I don't often ask...
Work to Janine is no great task.

Always willing to lend a hand,
For her rights - Janine stands tall.
In front of anyone - Janine would stand,
Just in case they happen to fall.

So very happy - go - lucky is she.....
Janine will always be a friend to me.

Homicide detectives have released a home video of missing Bathurst woman who has
now been missing for two years. Janine Vaughan, 31, was last seen getting into a
red car in the city's CBD after a night out with friends. Detective Inspector
from the Homicide Squad State Crime Command, Paul Jacobs, says Ms Vaughan is now
presumed to be dead. He says it is hoped the video will draw out exactly what
happened. "It's a video depicting a family christening at which Janine was the
godmother and it was about two weeks before she disappeared," he said. "We're
hoping that the environment in which she is depicted may prompt someone into
coming forward who may not otherwise have done so previously."

Search For More Clues In Janine Vaughan Disappearance
1/06/2002

Police will search a number of areas around Bathurst this weekend for further
clues that might solve the disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan. About
4am on 7 December 2001, 31-year-old Janine Vaughan was walking in Keppel Street,
Bathurst near Machattie Park, about 40 metres ahead of a group of friends. A
bright red four door sedan, mid to late 1990's model, of a similar size and
shape to a Mitsubishi Magna or Toyota Camry, did a 'U' turn pulled up along side
of her. Janine entered that vehicle and she has not be seen or heard of since.
Strike Force Toko Commander, Detective Inspector Paul Jacob said the inquiry
into Janine's disappearance has been a difficult and emotional time for Janine's
family and the investigators. "This weekend police will conduct a search of a
number of areas around Bathurst, starting with McPhillamy Park at Mount Panorama
this morning," Detective Inspector Jacob said. "We are searching these areas as
a result of information that has come to the attention of the strike force
during our inquiries so far. The searches are important as it will allow us the
opportunity to potentially refine a number of lines of inquiry." Police from
Chifley Local Area Command, Western Region Operation Support Group, Police Dog
Unit, Police Diving Unit, Strike Force Toko and the Western Region SES will be
involved in the search. Janine's uncle, Jeff Vaughan, said all his family wanted
was some information that would allow police to find out what happened to
Janine. "All we ask is that people, who might have been in Bathurst last
December, to think back and if they saw anything out of the ordinary to contact
police," Jeff said. "As people who love Janine, all we want is some form of
closure to this heartbreaking time in our lives."
Janine's friend Rebecca Medhurst, said Janine is well liked around the Bathurst
community and all her friends are devastated her disappearance has not been
solved. "If it was physically possible for Janine to have contacted us, we know
she would have done it. While, we as Janine's friends are hurting so much at the
moment, we know this is even harder for her close knit family," Rebecca said.
"We just need to hear something, anything from anyone to help us through this
time in our lives."

Anyone with information on Janine Vaughan's disappearance is asked to contact
Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. All information will be treated in the strictest
of confidence.

By Kate Cox
June 2 2002
The Sun-Herald

Life in Bathurst hasn't been the same since popular resident Janine Vaughan
vanished six months ago. The 31-year-old menswear shop manager was last seen
early on December 7 getting into a car after leaving the Metro Tavern nightclub.
Friends and family say she would never accept a ride from someone she didn't
know. That assertion has the residents of the normally laid-back community
questioning one another. "Everyone knew her through work or through her wide
range of friends," said her best friend, Rebecca Medhurst, who has lived in the
central west town for all of her 26 years.

"I know she wouldn't have gotten into the car with a stranger, which means I
probably know them as well, through her or a mutual friend, and that makes it so
much worse, to think that it's someone connected with me. I think that someone
out there must know more than they're letting on." Police yesterday conducted a
massive search of Mount Panorama, using dog squads, divers and 60 State
Emergency Service workers. Standing by for information were Ms Medhurst, Ms
Vaughan's uncle Jeff and mother Jenny.
Blonde, petite, immaculately presented and always smiling, Ms Vaughan was the
eldest of four children raised in Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley, by Jenny
and Ian Vaughan. She moved to Bathurst three years ago, following her then
boyfriend. That relationship didn't work out, but she remained, developing a
close network of friends and a good job. At the time she disappeared, she was
renewing an interest in abstract drawing and wanted to buy a house in town.
"Janine was a great friend," said Ms Medhurst, who worked next door. The two
spoke every day. Ms Vaughan came to all of her best friend's pre-natal classes,
practising massage and breathing techniques and planning the birth of her
daughter, Paris, now aged six months. "She used to get so excited when Paris
would kick, anyone would think it was her baby as well," Ms Medhurst said,
speaking to the media for the first time. "She was really disappointed that she
had to miss the birth because of complications, as we'd been working towards it
for so long. She was my rock." The women were meant to go on a Christmas
shopping trip to Orange the day after she disappeared. Ms Medhurst said: "She
was so fun-loving and outgoing, always there to lend a hand for anyone that
needed it and always putting herself last. She was a social person, she liked
going out to meet people, she liked to drink." Security cameras show Ms Vaughan
walking and conversing outside the nightclub at 4am. Detective Inspector Paul
Jacobs said earlier suspicions of a repeat offender - after several women
reported being attacked in Bathurst around the same time, as well as the
disappearance of Jessica Small, 15, from Bathurst five years ago - had largely
been discounted. The police have interviewed more than 1,000 people and taken
hundreds of official statements, and yesterday searched 30ha of bush and four
dams including one on the Charles Sturt University campus. Her uncle Jeff has
had to leave his hospital car parking job because he has difficulty
concentrating for more than 30minutes. "We're all just going through the
motions, trying to keep going," he said.

Search for Janine Vaughan resumes
May 26, 2007 - 10:09AM - SMH
Police will mount a massive ground search in areas around the central NSW city
of Bathurst tomorrow in a bid to find a woman missing for six years.

Janine Vaughan, a 31-year-old menswear shop manager went missing on December 7,
2001, when she was seen getting into a car minutes after leaving a Bathurst
hotel.

Police are remaining tight-lipped about the search and have created a special
taskforce, Strikeforce Mountbatten, which includes specialist sniffer dogs
trained to hunt for human remains.

Rural Press today reported the search will concentrate on areas around the famed
motor racing circuit, Mount Panorama, which is also a popular lookout and picnic
spot.

At the back of the circuit is the city's rubbish dump which may impede any
search.

A police spokesman told Rural Press the search was as a result of new
information supplied to police via Crime Stoppers and other sources over the
last six months.

Chief Superintendent Mark Holahan is leading Strikeforce Mountbatten and he will
arrive in Bathurst late tonight ahead of the start of a search at first light
tomorrow morning.

The search has been an epic story which resulted in a Police Integrity
Commission investigation into the initial search for Ms Vaughan and any role a
local policeman, Brad Hosemans might have had in her disappearance.

Mr Hosemans, now out of the force, has always denied any involvement in Ms
Vaughan's disappearance.

There have been multiple searches over the six years and police have scoured
Mount Panorama for Ms Vaughan before.

AAP
New searches for missing Janine
Philip Cornford - SMH
May 25, 2007
NSW POLICE will use a cadaver dog to search "a number of locations" in Bathurst
tomorrow for the body of Janine Vaughan, a 31-year-old divorcee who disappeared
after a night out drinking with friends more than five years ago.

"It's likely Janine Vaughan was murdered and someone in Bathurst knows who
killed her or has information which will lead police to her killer," Chief
Superintendent Mark Holahan, commander of operations, told the Herald yesterday.
"We want them to come forward."

Only one woman among the town's 37,000 people has reported seeing Ms Vaughan
since she vanished, believed murdered, after she got into a late-model red sedan
at 4am on Friday, December 7, 2001.

Ms Vaughan's mother, Jennie, and her sister, Kylie, who live in Muswellbrook,
will go to Bathurst for the search, which Strike Force Mountbatten expects to
continue on Monday and Tuesday.

Mr Holahan refused to say how many locations would be searched "in and around
Bathurst" but said some areas were "connected with a number of persons of
interest".

"There is enough evidence to indicate it is worth looking in these areas," he
said.

"There are a significant number of persons of interest and none of them can be
eliminated until we've got a body and a person in the dock charged with murder,"
Mr Holahan said.

One of the persons of interest is the former detective sergeant Brad Hosemans,
45, nephew of Assistant Police Commissioner Graeme Morgan. Witnesses said Mr
Hosemans had expressed interest in Ms Vaughan.

Mr Hosemans has denied any association with Ms Vaughan, meeting her or talking
to her. He gave evidence that his only involvement was leading the investigation
into her disappearance until it was taken over by homicide detectives from
Sydney a week later.

A woman gave evidence at a closed Police Integrity Commission inquiry last year
that on the Friday or Saturday morning after Ms Vaughan disappeared she saw her
riding in a car driven by Mr Hosemans.

She said Ms Vaughan looked very distressed. Her hands were tied by what looked
like baling twine and her hair was standing on end.

It is understood no one has corroborated her evidence.

Mr Hosemans told police he was in Newcastle the day Ms Vaughan disappeared but
admitted he had made an error after police obtained mobile phone records that
showed he was in the Bathurst area the day before.

Mr Hosemans was dismissed from the police in 2003 after a magistrate dismissed
charges that he had flashed his penis to a barmaid in 2001 but described him as
a unreliable witness.

A Police Integrity Commission inquiry into the original investigation of Ms
Vaughan's disappearance has yet to give its findings.
New suspects as search begins
By Vincent Morello and Peter Veness Article from: Agence France-Presse May 26,
2007 07:07pm
POLICE are investigating several people including new suspects over a woman's
disappearance in the central NSW city of Bathurst as a team led by a sniffer dog
prepares to search for her remains tomorrow.

Janine Vaughan, a 31-year-old menswear shop manager, went missing on December 7,
2001, after she was seen getting into a car minutes after leaving a hotel in
Bathurst, 200km west of Sydney.

A cadaver-sniffer dog will lead a team of about 15 police rescue and forensic
personnel through a number of designated areas on the Bathurst outskirts, police
spokeswoman Daniela Ongaro said.

The dog can detect human remains that are over 20 years old and buried up to
four metres deep.

The search will be slow going but will double in size when a second dog from
Queensland arrives on Monday to lead another team.

"It's a bit pointless having dozens and dozens of people (searching) if the dog
can't get across all of those areas,'' Ms Ongaro said.

Searches for Ms Vaughan's remains in previous years have focused around the
famed motor racing circuit, Mount Panorama, which is also a popular lookout and
picnic spot.

Ms Ongaro said that area has been ruled out despite media reports indicating
tomorrow's search would happen there again but would not reveal where the it
would commence.

"This is a new search area that's been identified from fresh information
received through CrimeStoppers and other sources (in the past six months),'' she
said.

The new information has led to ongoing police investigations of new suspects and
the review of previous suspects, Ms Ongaro said.

"We have a significant number of people of interest,'' she said.

Chief Superintendent Mark Holahan (Holahan) is leading Strikeforce Mountbatten
and he will arrive in Bathurst late tonight ahead of the search to start at
first light tomorrow morning.

There will be a media briefing at 0715 (AEST) and a press conference with Chief
Supt Holahan and Ms Vaughan's sister Kylie and mother Jenny at 1030 (AEST) -
both at Bathurst Police Station.

The investigation has been an epic affair that included a Police Integrity
Commission inquiry into the initial search for Ms Vaughan and any role a local
policeman, Brad Hosemans, may have had in her disappearance.

Mr Hosemans, who is no longer with the police force, has always denied any
involvement in Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

The search will last "a number of days'' depending on the dogs' daily stamina,
the difficulty of the terrain and the weather, Ms Ongaro said.

There have been multiple searches over the six years, and police have scoured
Mount Panorama for Ms Vaughan before.
Strike Force Mountbatten commences search for Janine Vaughan - Bathurst
27 May 2007
A cadaver dog on loan from Queensland Police is assisting a search operation
launched today for missing Bathurst woman, Janine Vaughan, who disappeared in
December 2001.

In the coming days NSW Police Rescue Squad will co-ordinate and lead a number of
searches of various locations in and around Bathurst, in the state’s Central
West.

Today’s search will focus on an area bordering the Macquarie River, located at
Gormans Hill, about one kilometre from the town centre.

Strike Force Mountbatten detectives say the search at Gormans Hill follows
information from a witness who saw a man and a red car in the vicinity of that
area in the hours after Janine disappeared. Probe over woman missing five years
June 05, 2006 - The Australian

NEW information has come to light about the disappearance of a woman in Bathurst
woman almost five years ago, a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) hearing has
been told.
The PIC, sitting in the central western NSW town of Orange, is investigating the
disappearance and apparent murder of Janine Mary Vaughan on December 7, 2001,
after she accepted a lift outside a hotel in nearby Bathurst at 4am that day.

Counsel assisting the inquiry, Mark Buscombe, today said the inquiry would
examine the conduct of Taskforce Toko, led by Detective Inspector Paul Jacob,
which investigated Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

Mr Buscombe said that Ms Vaughan had been enjoying a night out with friends at
two Bathurst hotels and was later seen getting into a red car.

"The car drove off and Ms Vaughan has not been seen or heard of since," Mr
Buscombe told the hearing.

Ms Vaughan was the manager of a local menswear store and police were notified by
friends after she did not open the outlet.

"Since the announcement of the hearing, considerable new information has come to
light which it (police) continue to assess," Mr Buscombe said.

The hearing, before Commissioner Terry Griffin, continues.
Hosemans may have returned - Central Western Daily
Monday, 5 June 2006

FORMER police detective Brad Hosemans had initially told police he was staying
at his mother's house near Newcastle when Janine Vaughan disappeared
four-and-a-half years ago.
Yesterday he admitted he may have been in Bathurst on December 7, 2001, the
morning Janine vanished.

The revelation came during Mr Hosemans' first appearance at the Police Integrity
Commission's (PIC's) public hearing in Orange yesterday.

In December 2002, 12 months after Ms Vaughan disappeared, the then Detective
Sergeant made a statement to head of Operation TOKO, Detective Inspector Paul
Jacobs that he was staying with his mother between December 3 and December 7.

Det Sgt Hosemans made the statement to Det Insp Jacobs' after allegations of a
relationship between Hosemans and Ms Vaughan emerged.

In a highly protected document between the Crime Agency and Hosemans, drafted in
December 2002, Det Sgt Hosemans had to answer allegations he'd had been in
contact with Janine Vaughan in the months prior to his disappearance,
allegations Hosemans' has always denied.

In the statement Hosemans said he left his mother's house on December 7, but
yesterday said he couldn't say with certainty if it was in fact December 6 or
December 7 when he returned home to Bathurst.

The anomaly arose after Hosemans admitted he'd relied on a bank statement, which
placed him in Wyong on December 7, (where he refuelled his 4WD before returning
home) when making the statement three years ago.

However, just this week, when sorting through documents in preparation for the
PIC public hearing Mr Hosemans said he found the EFTPOS receipt from when he
purchased the fuel, dated December 6.

The purchase had appeared on his bank statement dated the following day,
December 7.

Council assisting the commissioner Mark Buscombe grilled Hosemans on the error,
saying at the time it essentially gave him an alibi.

"It indicated you were not present at the place where the crime took place, you
said, in a statement you were not in Bathurst on the evening of December 6,
2001," Mr Buscombe said.

Mr Hosemans responded saying he'd only just discovered the EFTPOS receipt, and
didn't know it had existed until this week, when he was sorting through
documents, which he'd kept for taxation purposes.

Mr Hosemans said he'd relied on his bank statement when making his statement to
Insp Jacobs, assuming its accuracy.

"I utilised documents I had to assist me in recalling my whereabouts at the
time.

"I didn't even know I had the [EFTPOS] receipt until this week, when I found it
in a box," he said.

AN ex-detective who investigated the disappearance of Bathurst NSW woman Janine
Vaughan admitted yesterday that he may have been mistaken about his own alibi
for the night she went missing.

The Police Integrity Commission heard that Brad Hosemans, 44, had told homicide
investigators in a statement that he had been staying with his mother in
Newcastle and did not return to Bathurst until late on Friday December 7, 2001.

Ms Vaughan, 31, was last seen getting into a red car about 4am (AEDT) that day
after drinking at the Metro Tavern, now the Fat Cow, in Bathurst.

Mr Hosemans, who now runs a cafe in the town but at the time was a detective
sergeant, told the PIC that in recent days he had found a petrol receipt that
showed he may have been back in Bathurst on December 6.

The PIC, conducting public hearings in Orange, also heard that a number of
witnesses, including Ms Vaughan's mother Jennifer, her sister Kylie, three
friends and a workmate, had told homicide detectives that in the days before her
disappearance, she was pursued by Mr Hosemans.

He had allegedly been walking past Ed Harry's menswear store where she worked,
waving and winking at her, and had telephoned her.

She had once met him at Bathurst police station and said she was flattered by
his attention and thought he was "drop dead gorgeous".

She had told her sister that she had recognised him because he had recently been
in the media.

Six weeks before Ms Vaughan disappeared, Mr Hosemans had been charged with
aggravated sexual assault and obscene exposure following a night at the local
golf club. He was subsequently acquitted of the charges.

In a further twist, Mr Hosemans was the local officer in charge of the
investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance before the homicide officers were
called in from Sydney on December 16 under the command of Detective Inspector
Paul Jacob and Operation Toko was formed.

Insp Jacob told the PIC that he did not find out until much later in the
investigation about Mr Hoseman's alleged connections to Ms Vaughan, nor that he
had been put on restricted duties pending the outcome of the sex charges against
him.

Insp Jacob said he would also have been concerned that one of his investigating
officers' names appeared in police statements.

Mr Hosemans, who gave his evidence unwillingly which means it cannot be used
against him in criminal or most civil proceedings, is likely to be recalled to
the witness box when the hearing continues today.

A detective who led the investigation into the disappearance of a Bathurst woman
had asked her out on several dates but was repeatedly rebuffed, the Police
Integrity Commission (PIC) has been told.

Former police detective Brad Hosemans, 44, today told the PIC, sitting in
Orange, in the state's central west, that he had been in Bathurst the morning
Janine Vaughan was last seen.

Mr Hosemans led the initial investigation into her disappearance even though he
was facing unrelated aggravated indecent assault charges at the time. He was
subsequently acquitted of those charges but was later sacked.

The PIC is examining the investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance after she
accepted a lift in a red car outside a Bathurst nightclub about 4am on December
7, 2001.

The investigation was eventually taken over by one of the state's top officers,
Detective Inspector Paul Jacob, who has recently been in the headlines for
returning accused murderer Gordon Wood to Australia.

Wood, who is accused of killing his model girlfriend Carolyn Byrne 11 years ago,
was extradited from London in May.

Insp Jacob began giving evidence in the unrelated case this afternoon.

"Had it hit my radar, I may have taken a different course," Det Insp Jacob
replied.

Det Insp Jacob eventually wrote to Mr Hosemans to ask about claims he had a
relationship with Ms Vaughan before her disappearance.

The inquiry was told Mr Hosemans replied that he wasn't in Bathurst on the night
she disappeared.

However, Mr Hosemans told the inquiry today that was probably not true.

He said he had subsequently found a petrol receipt indicating he was in Bathurst
on December 6, 2001.

He said the discrepancy was not an attempt to build an alibi.

"It was an attempt to provide my details of where I was," he said.

The inquiry was told police received a number of reports of Mr Hosemans having a
romantic interest in Ms Vaughan, who ran a menswear store.

Mr Hosemans' former colleague, Detective Sergeant Jason Dickinson, said during
their investigation, Ms Vaughan's friends had said "one of the local police
officers was showing an interest in her, going past her shop and giving her a
wink".

"Ms Vaughan told (a friend) that he (Mr Hosemans) was ringing her up at night,
walking past the store, asking her out, but she said no?" Mr Buscombe asked of
Homicide Detective Inspector Andrew Waterman, who was involved in the case.

Detective Inspector Mark Gallagher told the inquiry that, because of the charges
against Mr Hosemans, he was effectively "confined to barracks" during the
initial investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

A COUNTRY copper smiles - perhaps even winks - at a young woman through her shop
window. The woman tells her mum later he is drop-dead gorgeous.

When Janine Vaughan vanished from a Bathurst street early one morning 4½ years
ago, Detective Sergeant Brad Hosemans and his colleagues simply got on with
their job.

This series of events - with a few complications - has stalled the investigation
into Ms Vaughan's disappearance and dragged some of the state's most respected
detectives to Orange this week for a costly Police Integrity Commission inquest.

When Ms Vaughan disappeared in 2001, Mr Hosemans was simultaneously a well-known
detective and the deputy mayor of Bathurst.

He managed the investigation into her possible abduction while facing unrelated
charges of aggravated indecent assault over an incident at the local golf club,
which he subsequently beat. He left the police force in 2003.

The commission says its inquiry will investigate the circumstances surrounding
Janine Mary Vaughan's disappearance and the conduct of police involved.

Counsel assisting the commission, Mark Buscombe, said yesterday it was important
to stress at the hearing's outset that this was not a coronial inquest, or a
substitute for one, and by the end of the day, at least that was clear.

Mr Buscombe said the hearing would be about "aspects of the policing
investigation". Since the commission announced its investigation, "considerable
new information" had been forthcoming, which will presumably be revealed this
week.

Mr Hosemans, who now runs a fish-and-chip shop, gave evidence, followed by seven
policemen, including senior detectives from the sex crimes and homicide squads.

Ms Vaughan had just left the Metro Tavern when she was last seen getting into a
red car in Keppel Street, Bathurst, about 4am on Friday, December 7, 2001. When
interviewed a year later, Mr Hosemans told investigators he spent that week with
his mother in the Hunter Valley, returning on December 7.

Yesterday Mr Hosemans conceded he might have been back in Bathurst a day
earlier, having last week found a receipt for petrol bought at Wyong on December
6.

Strike Force Toko, under the command of Detective Inspector Paul Jacob, had
investigated the disappearance, and half a dozen assaults on women in the area.
All remain unsolved.

In January 2002, Ms Vaughan's mother, Jennifer Vaughan, told the strike force
she did not recall her daughter talking about any men except "a guy she had seen
in Bathurst and who she described as drop-dead gorgeous".

Her daughter had found out this man was Brad Hosemans.

Mr Hosemans had smiled at Ms Vaughan from outside her shop, and winked, her best
friend said.

No police who gave evidence were surprised by those statements and none had
known a missing persons case managed by a detective facing charges of indecent
assault in the past.

The Police Integrity Commission (PIC) inquiry into the disappearance of Bathurst
shop manager Janine Vaughan, 31, resumes in Orange in western New South Wales
today.

Police have admitted they made mistakes in the investigation into the suspected
murder.

Detective Inspector Paul Jacob was brought into the investigation five years ago
because police feared Ms Vaughan's disappearance was linked to a spate of
attacks on women in the town.

Inspector Jacob told the hearing yesterday he was satisfied that a number of
attacks in central west in 2001 were not related.

However, Inspector Jacob said he made an error in allowing Bathurst Detective
Sergeant Brad Hosemans to stay on the case.

At the time, Detective Sergeant Hosemans was facing indecent assault charges -
which were later dismissed and for a time he was considered a suspect in the
murder.

He says he is affronted at suggestions he was involved in her disappearance.
Tuesday, June 6, 2006. 3:40pm (AEST)
Officer admits suspected murder probe flaws - ABC

The head of a task force investigating the suspected murder of a woman in
Bathurst, in western New South Wales, has admitted he missed crucial evidence
linking a local police officer to her disappearance.

Detective Inspector Paul Jacob has spent a second day in the witness box at the
Police Integrity Commission hearing in Orange.

Detective Inspector Jacob says former Bathurst Detective Sergeant Brad Hosemans
was considered a person of interest in the suspected murder of 31-year-old
Janine Vaughan.

He has told the hearing that after reviewing all the evidence, Sergeant Hosemans
was no longer considered a suspect.
Inspector Jacob was asked about some notes he took just four months after the
woman's disappearance.

The notes read: "Flowers and chocolates in weeks leading up to disappearance.
Brad seen. Statement-takers left out issue with Brad."

Detective Inspector Jacob says he missed the note because he was overworked.

But he admitted it should have stuck out like a bolt from the blue.

Wednesday, June 7, 2006. 11:14am (AEST)
PIC hearing told missing woman harassed by policeman - ABC
Former friends of a missing woman from Bathurst, in central western New South
Wales, have told the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) she complained of
harassment from a police officer in the months leading to her disappearance.

Just weeks before shop manager Janine Vaughan, 31, disappeared, she had a
conversation with her boss Serena D'souza.

She told the PIC, Janine Vaughan had started to go out with a local police
officer who was also on the council, but it had not worked out and he was
harassing her.

Ms D'souza said she told Bathurst police of the link, but they left it out of
her official statement.

Another close friend wept in the witness box as she told the PIC Janine Vaughan
also told her she was being harassed.

The friend identified the man as former Bathurst detective sergeant and deputy
Mayor Brad Hosemans.

Mr Hosemans has denied even meeting Ms Vaughan.

The PIC investigation into the way senior police handled the investigation into
her suspected murder continues today.
We were harder on police suspect, inquiry told
Stephen Gibbs - SMH
June 7, 2006

A DETECTIVE who became a person of interest to police investigating the
disappearance of a Bathurst woman was treated differently because he was an
officer, a corruption inquiry has heard.

Sergeant Brad Hosemans was subjected to more rigorous scrutiny than if he had
not been a policeman, Detective Inspector Paul Jacob, the officer in charge of
the investigation, told the Police Integrity Commission yesterday.

Mr Hosemans was never seriously considered a suspect in the presumed abduction
and murder of Janine Vaughan 4½ years ago because there was never evidence to
suggest he was involved.

"It's simply because he was a police officer I went those extra yards with him,"
Detective Inspector Jacob said in evidence.

The commission has been trying to show investigators ran dead on Mr Hosemans as
a potential suspect in their inquiries, ignoring information that, in the months
before Ms Vaughan's disappearance, he had shown an interest in her.

It has also tried suggesting that Mr Hosemans was afforded protection because he
is related to the assistant commissioner Graeme Morgan, who heads the State
Crime Command.

However, counsel assisting the commission, Mark Buscombe, has for two days
produced a mass of documents created by Strike Force Toko that recorded even the
most trivial statements made to police about Mr Hosemans.

The investigation into Ms Vaughan's presumed murder is expected to go to the
coroner.

Detective Inspector Jacob, whose peers considered him above reproach, told the
commission Mr Hosemans had become a person of interest to Strike Force Toko
about six months after Ms Vaughan, 31, disappeared.

Locals told police that Mr Hosemans, who was single, had been asking about the
store manager's availability before she disappeared.

Before her presumed abduction Mr Hosemans was accused of indecently assaulting a
woman at Bathurst Golf Club and was on restricted duties.

Those charges were dismissed by a magistrate who was scathing of Mr Hosemans's
credibility.

"It was that material that made Mr Hosemans a person of interest to Strike Force
Toko," Detective Inspector Jacob said, "not anything else."

In a January 2003 progress report on Toko, Inspector Jacob concluded: "There is
no evidence of any impropriety, corrupt or criminal behaviour by Detective
Sergeant Hosemans."

The hearing continues.

Detective grilled over alibi evidence
From: AAP By David Dixon
June 06, 2006
A TOP New South Wales detective has been accused of deliberately misleading the
NSW Ombudsman over his doubts about the alibi of an officer investigating the
disappearance of a Bathurst woman.

Detective Inspector Paul Jacob is one of the state's most senior detectives,
known for leading major investigations such as that into the death of model
Carolyn Byrne 11 years ago.
He made headlines last month when he delivered Ms Byrne's former boyfriend,
Gordon Wood, to a Sydney court to face a murder charge.

Today, at a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) hearing in the central-west NSW
town of Orange, Det Insp Jacob's handling of a missing persons case was put
under the microscope.

He was asked about a report to the assistant commissioner of police, and whether
he intentionally omitted phone records casting doubt on the alibi of former
Bathurst detective Brad Hosemans, who had a romantic interest in the missing
woman, Janine Vaughan.

Mr Hosemans, who initially led the investigation into the 31-year-old's
disappearance, had claimed he wasn't in Bathurst when Ms Vaughan was last seen
accepting a lift outside a Bathurst nightclub early on December 7, 2001.

But Mr Hosemans yesterday admitted to the PIC he probably was in Bathurst that
morning.
Det Insp Jacob said he had dropped Mr Hosemans as a person of interest in the
investigation before he was fully appraised of the former officer's background.

Mr Hosemans had been facing aggravated indecent assault charges at the time he
was investigating the Vaughan case.

He was subsequently acquitted, but the magistrate hearing that matter described
him as someone who couldn't be trusted.

The PIC was today told that in late 2005, after an inquiry from the NSW
Ombudsman over the case, Det Insp Jacob wrote a report in which he said mobile
phone records placing Mr Hosemans en route to Bathurst on December 6, 2001, were
"potentially unreliable".

He had also not inquired as to the accuracy of an EFTPOS receipt Mr Hosemans
provided that indicated he was in Newcastle on December 7, 2001.

"This document that you prepared for the ombudsman was misleading," counsel
assisting the inquiry, Mark Buscombe, alleged.

"I reject that," Det Insp Jacob answered.

"I put it to you that it was deliberately misleading," Mr Buscombe countered,
prompting Det Insp Jacob to reply: "Absolutely not."

Det Insp Jacob said it was his judgment that Mr Hosemans was to no longer be a
"person of interest" in the Vaughan disappearance.

"That material that made Mr Hosemans a person of interest, I reviewed that
material and found it to be questionable," he said.

Mr Hosemans would have been cleared of any suspicion earlier if he had not been
a police officer, Det Insp Jacob said.

Friends and colleagues of Ms Vaughan testified that she told them she was being
bothered by a police officer, one naming Mr Hosemans as a man she was having
"some difficulties" with and who kept asking her out on dates.

JANINE VAUGHAN, a Bathurst woman who disappeared almost five years ago, was seen
tied up in the car of Brad Hosemans, a former NSW police officer, shortly after
she went missing, the Police Integrity Commission has been told.

In evidence given in a private hearing yesterday, a 47-year-old female witness,
known as RA1, said Ms Vaughan was trying to get her attention.

"As I approached the car I saw a very distressed woman sitting in the front seat
and trying to get my attention and appearing to wave when I realised her hands
were tied together," she said. "Her hair was as if it was standing on its end."
She said the man driving the car had a "clean cut look" and "looked shocked", a
transcript of the proceedings released by the commission read.

"I knew this person to be Brad Hosemans, as he was a policeman in Bathurst, and
I knew his sister in Bathurst," the witness said.

"At this time I was slowing down and approaching the street and about to turn
into it, and I was able to see Brad Hosemans and Janine Vaughan quite clearly."

Until today, the last reported sighting of Ms Vaughan, a store manager, was as
she accepted a lift outside a Bathurst nightclub early on December 7, 2001.

The commission is examining the way police handled the investigation when Mr
Hosemans was a person of interest in Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

Mr Hosemans, who has always denied any involvement in the disappearance, led the
Vaughan case for several days before Detective Inspector Paul Jacob took over.

The witness said the last time she had seen the car it was travelling south
towards Eglinton, near Bathurst.

The woman, who had lived in the Bathurst area for 20 years, said she believed Mr
Hosemans' family had a rural property in the Eglinton area.

"I wondered what was happening, but as I knew Brad Hosemans as a policeman, who
should be trustworthy, who should be a pillar of society, I thought nothing of
it, and I got on with my day as I had a busy life," she said.

The woman said she had not been disturbed by the sight of Mr Hosemans and Ms
Vaughan in the car until she saw a photograph of the missing woman in the
Western Advocate newspaper on Friday, April 7 this year.

She went to see a solicitor on Monday, April 10, the commission was told.

"I know I should provide this information, but I am very afraid for my family's
safety and my own safety as I have seen the person in question in the town area
and feel that as soon as this information gets out he will put two and two
together," she said.

Mr Hosemans had consistently claimed he was in Newcastle when Ms Vaughan went
missing, but when the commission sat in Orange earlier this year, he said he may
have been in Bathurst.

She was last seen shortly before 4am on 7 December 2001 getting into a red car
in Keppel Street, Bathurst, after leaving a nearby nightclub.

Today’s search operation is being launched by Strike Force Mountbatten which was
established in October 2006 to resume the investigation into the disappearance
and presumed murder of Ms Vaughan.

Chief Superintendent Mark Holahan said during the past six months Mountbatten
detectives have received fresh information from a number of sources including
Crime Stoppers.

“As a result of the new information we have launched a search operation which
will be conducted in Bathurst over the coming days,” Chief Superintendent
Holahan said.

“We have a number of persons of interest that we are looking at and until we
make an arrest we cannot discount anyone from this investigation.

“This is a frustrating investigation and until we find a crime scene we will
continue to methodically work our way through the evidence,” he said.

Chief Supt Holahan said detectives firmly believe members of the Bathurst
community have information that could solve the mystery of Janine’s
disappearance.

“Someone in this town is harbouring a secret. It is likely Janine was murdered
and someone in this town either knows the killer or has information that could
lead police to the killer.

“It is time for people to come forward and disclose what they know. The smallest
piece of information could be the vital link that could solve this
investigation.”

Janine’s mother Jenny, sister Kylie and brother, Adam, who attended today’s
press conference in Bathurst, said the family had renewed hope Janine would be
found.

“This has been an enormously painful experience simply not knowing what happened
to our beloved Janine,” Jenny said.

“Never a day has gone by without some thought of what happened to her or where
she may be,” she said.

“We will never give up hope of finding Janine and I would beg of anyone who has
any information to come forward and end our family’s suffering,” Kylie said.

Anyone with information that might assist investigators is asked to contact
Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. Information can be given anonymously and all
information is treated confidentially.
Search for Janine Vaughan-Bathurst
28 May 2007
Strike Force Mountbatten police this morning resumed the search for the remains
of missing woman Janine Vaughan.

For the second day Police Rescue Squad officers will be assisted in their search
by a cadaver dog.

At 9am today they commenced scouring bushland near a creek at Yetholme, about
three kilometres south of Bathurst.

A second cadaver dog, also on loan from Queensland Police, is expected to arrive
in Sydney this morning and will join the join the search operation after midday.

Yesterday officers searched an area at Gormans Hill near the Macquarie River but
did not locate any further evidence.

"We have received information which we believe is credible enough to warrant a
search of a number of areas in and around Bathurst," Ch Supt Holahan said.

"We are very hopeful that we are on the right track to find Janine."

Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Information can be provided anonymously and all information is regarded as
confidential.
Update on discovery of bones — Strike Force Mountbatten
29 May 2007
Forensic analysis of bones discovered buried at a site near Bathurst yesterday
afternoon indicate they are more than likely those of an animal.

Suspicion was raised after the bones were initially found wrapped in a tarpaulin
a short distance from the Macquarie River, at Gormans Hill, about 3pm.

Police forensics officers consulted with experts in Sydney this morning. Further
excavation of the site revealed a number of bones, which now appear to be from
an animal.

Pathology experts have requested the bones be transported to Sydney’s Glebe
morgue where they will undergo a final examination.

Meanwhile, the search operation being carried out by Strike Force Mountbatten
continues, with further searches underway.

The Queensland Police cadaver dogs will continue to assist with the search
operation.

The family of Janine Vaughan have been kept fully informed.

Police hope code of silence breaking in Vaughan case

Posted Wed
May 30, 2007 7:13am AEST - ABC

The police chief leading the search operation to find the
remains of missing woman Janine Vaughan in Bathurst, in central western New
South Wales, says the code of silence regarding her disappearance and presumed
murder may be breaking.

The search for Ms Vaughan's remains suffered a setback yesterday when
bones discovered near the Macquarie River were identified to be more than likely
those of an animal.

Since the renewed operation began on the weekend, police have taken
numerous calls from the public who have information in relation to the case.

Chief Superintendent Mark Holahan says most of the information received
has confirmed what they know, and the sites they are currently searching with
the help of cadaver dogs.

"I honestly believe that a lot of people have sat at home over the last
five-and-a-half years and thought that the police would know that information,
or 'I don't need to go forward' and they're sitting there now saying, 'if only I
had told them at the time perhaps they could have done this'," he said.

"I think that's become the impetus, that they don't want to have that 'if
only' thought in their mind and I think that's encouraging people to come
forward."

$100K reward offered in Vaughan
case

December 8th
2008 - ABC

A $100,000 reward is being offered for
information about the disappearance of a Bathurst woman in
central western New South Wales.

"Send a letter, make a phone call or come and see us
it's that easy. Really we just want her home," he said.

The inquest has been set down for three weeks.

Nightclub staff heard man brag
about killing

Posted
7 hours 46 minutes ago
- June 24th 2009 - ABC

An inquest has been told that a man was
overheard in a nightclub claiming he had killed someone,
just weeks after the disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine
Vaughan.

The 31-year-old vanished after getting into a small
red car in Bathurst city centre on December 7 2001.

A former security guard at Bathurst's Metro Tavern,
Barry Gale, said a patron at the club had been heard talking
about how he had recently killed someone.

Mr Gale has told the inquest that he and the other
staff were not sure if the story was true, but when they
reported it to police, he said they did not want to know
about it.

When asked by the counsel assisting the coroner if he
knew the name of the man, Mr Gale replied "no, not at the
time, but I do know."

Woman stalked

Earlier the inquest heard that a woman was stalked by
a man in a car similar to the one Janine Vaughan was last
seen getting into.

Lynette Borland has told the inquest that she had been
walking through Bathurst CBD early on December 7 2001, when
a little red car began following her.

Giving evidence, Ms Borland said she knew she was in
trouble and that this person was up to something.

She told the inquest she cannot remember the make or
model of the vehicle, but she gave a brief description of
the driver.

The inquest has also heard that Ms Vaughan lost her
handbag the night she went missing.

Police urge Vaughan caller to
phone back

Posted
Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:45am AEST

Detectives investigating the
disappearance of former Muswellbrook woman Janine Vaughan
have been contacted by an anonymous man.

Ms Vaughan, 31, vanished in Bathurst nearly eight
years ago.

Officers from Strikeforce Mountbatten will be back in
Bathurst today.

They are using their visit to appeal to an anonymous
caller who contacted their Sydney office to ring again.

The man spoke to investigators three weeks ago and he
and his female friend are being urged to call back to
discuss the information disclosed.

Ms Vaughan has not been seen since getting into a
small, red car in the city centre in 2001.

The inquest into her disappearance is due to resume at
the Bathurst court in September.

Janine Vaughan
inquest continues

Posted
Mon Sep 14, 2009
8:15am AEST - ABC

A coronial inquest
into the disappearance and suspected
death of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan
resumes today.

Ms Vaughan, 31, vanished after
getting into a small red car after a
night out in central Bathurst, in
central western New South Wales, in
December 2001.

The inquest last sat in June where
it heard from a woman who said she was
stalked by a man in a car similar to
that Ms Vaughan was last seen getting
into.

A former nightclub security guard
also told the inquest in the weeks after
her disappearance he overheard a man
claiming he had killed someone.

Following those hearings, an
anonymous caller contacted detectives
from Strikeforce Mountbatten who
returned to Bathurst in July for further
investigations.

The inquest resumes today in the
Bathurst Courthouse before state coroner
Mary Jerram, and is set down for two
weeks.

Inquest
into disappearance of Muswellbrook
woman still no closer to truth

BY JACINTA
CARROLL - The Herald

15/09/2009
4:00:00 AM

"DONT be scared of me . . . I
wont hurt you" was one of a
series of notes left on Janine
Vaughan's car 18 months before
she disappeared.

The note was one of three
shown to Coroner Mary Jerram
yesterday as the inquest into Ms
Vaughan's disappearance in 2001
reopened at Bathurst Court
House.

Ms Vaughan's former
partner Phillip Evans told the
court Janine was apparently
stalked by a person who left
notes, flowers and lingerie on
her car while Mr Evans was
working in Sydney.

Ms Vaughan and Mr Evans
had been in a relationship for
five years before they broke up
in mid-2000.

They had met in
Muswellbrook and dated before Mr
Evans moved to Bathurst. Ms
Vaughan moved there to be with
him.

It was while Mr Evans was
working in Sydney that a series
of events involving Ms Vaughan
occurred.

Mr Evans recalled the
first of three letters, a
hand-written note left on the
windscreen of her car.

"Don't be scared of me. I
don't want to hurt you. I just
want to get to know you. I will
be in touch," it read.

Two other hand-written
notes were later left on her
car, he said.

He also recalled that a
flower wrapped in foil and a
piece of lingerie had been left.
Mr Evans also said their house
and shed had been broken into on
two separate occasions.

Counsel assisting the
Coroner, Chris Ronalds, asked Mr
Evans if he he knew the identity
of the person writing the notes.

"No. If I knew I would
have grabbed him myself," he
said.

"It's something I still
struggle with. I wonder if it is
someone I know."

Mr Evans said at the time
the incidents were happening he
wondered if Ms Vaughan had
written the notes.

"I spoke to my family [to
see] if they thought it was
Janine trying to get more
attention," he said.

"Looking back at it I was
wrong to think that."

Mr Evans said he had no
credible information on her
disappearance.

But he did not believe
that Ms Vaughan would have got
into a car with a stranger.

"I don't believe she would
have [got in] if she didn't know
the driver. It's something that
has always amazed me," he said.
The Western Advocate

Vaughan
inquest told blood-stained knife
destroyed

Posted
Tue Sep 15, 2009
10:35am AEST - ABC

The inquest into the
disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine
Vaughan has heard a blood-stained knife
found in the Bathurst area was destroyed
without further analysis.

The second week of the inquest
before coroner Mary Jerram has resumed
at the Bathurst Courthouse, in central
western New South Wales, after it last
sat in June.

Senior Sergeant Noel Paine has
told the inquest that shortly after the
31-year-old, formerly of Muswellbrook,
vanished in 2001, a knife was discovered
in a nursing home driveway in nearby
Kelso.

The inquest heard it had apparent
blood stains, had hairs attached to it
and was to be checked to see if was
related to Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

When asked by counsel assisting
the coroner, Chris Ronalds, what
happened to the knife, Senior Sergeant
Paine told the court he had later been
informed it was never resubmitted for
further analysis and destroyed.

Ms Vaughan was last seen getting
into a small red car during a night out
in the Bathurst city centre.

The police investigation into Ms
Vaughan's disappearance will be scaled
back next week regardless of the
coroner's recommendations.

The head of Strikeforce
Mountbatten, Detective Inspector Peter
Houlahan, says several people have
contacted officers in recent months with
fresh information, but it has not
provided any new leads.

He says police will still work on
the case, but not full-time.

"There won't be a dedicated
strikeforce continually working on ...
the investigation as it is at this
present time," he said.

"However, if information does come
to light it will be fed onto us and we
will exhaust those lines of enquiries
again.

"Obviously there is some person
out there who knows a little bit more,
but whether that person is still in the
local area, we don't know."

Closure

Meanwhile, Ms Vaughan's brother
says the final week of the inquest into
her disappearance is the hardest yet.

Adam Vaughan says it is difficult
returning to the city and the family is
looking for closure.

"I think it's a little bit more
tough this time," he said.

"We know that it's going to be all
over and we won't be coming back so
hopefully something may come out while
we [are] here, but everybody seems to
keep together and ... this town holds a
lot of secrets and we would hopefully
like them to share them, but we don't
really know."

Vaughan inquest hears doubt over
alleged 'kill confession'

Posted
Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:02pm AEST
-ABC

An acquaintance and former girlfriend of
a man who allegedly admitted killing missing Bathurst woman,
Janine Vaughan, have told an inquest in central western New
South Wales, they questioned whether he was telling the
truth.

Coroner Mary Jerram has heard from 12 witnesses this
week, including an acquaintance of Denis Briggs, who police
initially identified as a person of interest.

Peter Barker met Mr Briggs about four months after the
31-year-old, formerly of Muswellbrook, vanished.

He told the inquest, when Mr Briggs confessed to
stabbing Ms Vaughan to death, he told him he buried her body
at an area known as White Rocks.

He said Mr Briggs' "eyes were fixed ... like he was
reliving something".

But Mr Barker said he was not sure whether Mr Briggs
was "making it up".

Mr Briggs later told him "he was only joking".

Julie Creave also testified. She said she knew her
former partner had not taken his medication for bipolar
disorder at the time he allegedly confessed to the killing
and she did not always believe things he said when he did
not take the medication.

Five more witnesses are due to give evidence on the
eighth day of the coronial inquiry.

Detective Acting Inspector Guy Flaherty from
Strikeforce Mountbatten is among four police officers who
are due to testify today.

He will be providing an update of what has been
happening as part of investigations since the inquest last
sat in June.

The inquest continues in the Bathurst Courthouse.

'Persons of
interest' face Vaughan inquest

Posted
Thu Sep 17, 2009
11:22am AEST - ABC

Three men named
as persons of interest in the case of
missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan
are due to give evidence at the inquest
into her disappearance today.

Andrew Donald Grant Jones, Denis
James Briggs and Bradley Hosemans are
the final three witnesses to testify at
the inquest in central western New South
Wales.

Each have been named by police as
persons of interest in the investigation
into the disappearance eight years ago
of Ms Vaughan, formerly of Muswellbrook.

Since the inquest opened in June,
coroner Mary Jerram has heard evidence
from other witnesses about the men's
alleged connection to the 31-year-old.

Mr Jones drove a red car, which
has similar dimensions to the vehicle Ms
Vaughan was last seen getting into,
while Mr Briggs allegedly confessed to
killing her before later denying it.

Mr Hosemans briefly dated Ms
Vaughan before she went missing.

The inquest continues.

Janine Vaughan
inquest: Hosemans denies contact

Posted
Thu Sep 17, 2009
2:19pm AEST - ABC

A witness at the
inquest into the disappearance of Janine
Vaughan has denied having contact with
the Bathurst woman before she vanished.

Bradley George Hosemans is the
last person to testify at the inquest
before Coroner Mary Jerram.

When asked by counsel assisting
the coroner, Chris Ronalds, if he had
picked up Janine Vaughan in a red car
the night she went missing, her replied,
no m'am, I did not.

He also denied knowing what
happened to the 31-year-old after
December 7 2001.

Mr Hosemans also told the inquest,
that he never had any dates with Janine
Vaughan, or sent her flowers.

Andrew Donald Grant Jones and
Denis James Briggs each entered the
witness box, but each on legal advice
objected to giving evidence.

The inquest continues.

Janine Vaughan inquest wraps up

Posted
Mon Sep 21, 2009 10:23am AEST
- ABC

The inquest into the disappearance of
Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan will close today.

State coroner Mary Jerram is due to hand down her
findings and recommendations after hearing evidence from 36
witnesses since the inquest first sat at Bathurst
courthouse, in central western New South Wales, in June.

No trace of the 31-year-old has ever been found,
despite extensive police investigations.

Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into a small, red car
during a night out with friends in Bathurst eight years ago.

Strikeforce Mountbatten, which is investigating the
case, will be scaled back from today regardless of the
coroner's recommendations.

Coroner admits no answers on cold
case murder

Posted
Mon Sep 21, 2009 12:06pm AEST
- ABC

A coroner has ruled that Bathurst woman
Janine Vaughan, who disappeared nearly eight years ago, was
murdered by an unidentified person.

The 31-year-old has not been seen since getting into a
small car during a night out with friends in the New South
Wales central west town in December 2001.

Handing down her findings this morning, coroner Mary
Jerram said that, based on her evidence before her, Ms
Vaughan was murdered by a person or persons unknown and her
body disposed in a way that it has never been found.

She also said there were flaws in the initial
investigation into the woman's disappearance.

The coroner said that despite extensive investigations
the trail has gone cold and she hopes someone will give way
to the weight of their conscience and come forward.

The coroner offered her sympathy to Ms Vaughan's
family, saying they have had to wait eight years for answers
and sadly the inquest has not provided one.

Speaking outside the Bathurst court house, Janine
Vaughan's brother Adam, says the family is still waiting for
answers.

"[It's] very disappointing, we're not very satisfied,"
he said.

"We just feel that, had they done their job right in
the first place, this may have been resolved a long time ago
and we may have had a bit more closure, because we're
walking away today with nothing."

Police say strikeforce Mount Batten will close, but
officers will continue to pursue any new leads.

Detective Inspector Peter Houlahan says the outcome is
very frustrating.

"We've exhausted all our lines of inquiry at this
point in time and we're waiting on some new leads," he said.

"That's why the appeal is still current and that's why
the reward is still sitting at $100,000."

Janine Vaughan's family hopes for
closure from bones

Posted
Fri Jan 28, 2011 6:54am AEDT - ABC

The sister of missing Bathurst woman,
Janine Vaughan, says it'll be an anxious wait to find out if
a skeleton discovered near Bathurst is the 31-year-old.

The human bones have been dug up on a property at
Perthville and an anthropologist has been brought in to
determine whether they're male or female.

Police say they're not ruling out the possibility the
skeleton is Ms Vaughan, who vanished in Bathurst in 2001.

Janine's sister Kylie Curnuck says similar discoveries
have been made before.

"It does take its toll when you sort of get phone
calls.

"You know over the last nine years we've had a few
different phone calls to say you know they've found
different bones and you sort of have that waiting period of
whether it is going to be Janine or not, " she said.

Ms Curnuck says she hopes the discovery of human bones
provides closure for the victim's family.

She says while it'll be an anxious wait to find if the
skeleton is Janine, the family's remaining cautious.

"No, you try and be as open minded really, because you
just think well if it's not Janine, then somebody elses'
case has been solved and they don't have to go through what
we've been going through as well and it could be that this
person has been there a lot longer than Janine," she said.

Bones not those missing
Muswellbrook woman

Posted
Fri Jan 28, 2011 12:40pm AEDT - ABC

Bones discovered in the state's central
west are not those of missing Muswellbrook woman Janine
Vaughan, with tests showing they belong to a male.

The bones were found at Perthville, near Bathurst on
Wednesday when a property owner was digging in a paddock.

PIC used
skewed evidence in Janine Vaughan case

THEY rode in with all guns blazing thinking
their officers could do what the state's top
detectives in the homicide squad hadn't - solve the
murder of Janine Vaughan.

But the Police Integrity Commission has been left
with its tail between its legs after the latest damning
report into its investigation found that it not only had
the totally wrong culprit in its sights - former police
officer and
Bathurst deputy mayor Brad Hosemans - but also
targeted Detective Inspector Paul Jacob without any
justification.

The PIC Inspector Peter Moss QC has found that the
PIC "abrogated its reponsibilities" to conduct a fair
and impartial investigation and had engaged in a
"reprehensible" course of conduct, skewing evidence to
fit the conclusions it wanted to come to.Mr Moss upheld
complaints by Inspector Jacob, one of the state's most
respected detectives, that the PIC had been unfair and
unjustified in recommending that he be dismissed from
the police, a move Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione
refused to carry out.

In his harshest criticism of the PIC so far, Mr
Moss said his analysis of the commission's operation
Rani inquiry into events surrounding Ms Vaughan's murder
had uncovered a "situation so serious and so far removed
from what is expected of a law enforcement body ... as
to be well-nigh incomprehensible".

In his report tabled in parliament yesterday, Mr
Moss said the PIC set out believing it could solve the
murder of Ms Vaughan. The shop assistant, 31, was last
seen getting into a car about 4am on December 7, 2001
after leaving a nightclub.

Mr Moss, who has already also upheld complaints
made by Mr Hosemans against the PIC, said the PIC should
remove its Rani report from its website.However in a
report also tabled in parliament, the PIC rejected the
criticism.

A spokesman for Premier Barry O'Farrell said he
was considering the report.

Family still seeking truth

Crime Reporter

Each time Kylie Curnuck and Adam Vaughan
receive a tip-off about where their sister
Janine could be buried, they drive to the spot,
and start their own search. In some instances,
they even start to dig.

Their mother, Jenny Vaughan, who has
terminal cancer, sits anxiously in the car
hoping that finally, after 11 years, they might
finally learn what happened to Janine.

''Adam and Kylie have even dug up the
ground with their bare little hands,'' Jenny
Vaughan says.

''We've been everywhere, even on private
properties. I sit up in the car while Adam and
Kylie are searching. We go where people have
told us. Whenever we go to Bathurst, we go to
these places and look.''

It is a show of the dedication that Janine
Vaughan's family has to finding out what
happened to the 31-year-old after she vanished
in the streets of Bathurst, in the state's
central west, in December 2001. But it also
demonstrates the lack of faith the family hold
towards investigators trying to solve the case.

''Frustrated and angry'', the Vaughan
family are for the first time speaking about
what they believe has been a problem-plagued
investigation.

''They say the best chance to solve a
crime is very early. Well, a lot seemed to go
wrong early on,'' Ms Curnuck said.

Jenny Vaughan added: ''As a family, we
feel like we've failed too. I feel like I've
failed because I haven't done as much as I
could.''

Ms Vaughan's last known movements were
caught on security footage at Bathurst's Metro
Tavern nightclub. That night she drank and
danced with friends until she left about 3.47am
on a Friday.

There had been a charity golf day in town
and, even though it was a week night, it had
been a busy evening. Among those at the club
were several local police. One patron is even
heard on the security footage remarking that
there were so many officers out on the town that
you could ''get away with murder''.

Ms Vaughan lost her handbag that night
but, as she left the club, she told two
accompanying friends: ''I've gotta go. I'm
getting more drink. Got to go to the Ox [Oxford
Tavern].''

She walked no more than 40 metres ahead,
when three witnesses watched as a small car
drove past, turned around, then stopped next to
Ms Vaughan. She got in and has not been heard
from since.

Ms Vaughan was reported missing when she
failed to open the menswear store she managed
inside a Bathurst shopping centre the next
morning.

''It was raining, she had no money, she
had no phone, no key to get into her house,''
Jenny Vaughan said. ''If it was just someone she
knew from coming into the shop or who she knew
from around town she would have got in. It
wouldn't have been someone that she met that
night.

''I think it's someone that she knew and
she trusted them enough to get into the car.''

Two police strike forces, a Police
Integrity Commission inquiry and a 10-day
coronial inquest have failed to provide any
clues as to who was driving that car or what
happened next.

Initially, police sought a salmon-pink
Hyundai but now believe the car involved was a
red sedan.

Ms Vaughan's work diary, where she would
have logged unusual dealings with customers,
went missing and there were allegations that
evidence given by witnesses and friends in the
early stages of the investigation was left out
of statements.

Then, to add to the family's scepticism,
the officer who oversaw the police investigation
in its early stage was named as a person of
interest in Ms Vaughan's disappearance at the
coronial inquest eight years later.

Brad Hosemans, a sergeant at Bathurst
police station, was one of three men (along with
a local pharmacist, Andrew Jones, and an aged
care centre wardsman, Denis Briggs) named as
persons of interest at the 2009 inquest.

At that coronial inquiry, Detective
Inspector Peter Houlihan said witnesses recalled
Ms Vaughan had expressed concerns about Mr
Hosemans's actions towards her. These concerns
were alleged to have been written in the lost
diary.

Mr Hosemans was interviewed by police and
officers drilled through a concrete floor at his
Bathurst home as part of their investigation.

The police, the Police Integrity
Commission and the coroner have all cleared Mr
Hosemans of any involvement in Ms Vaughan's
disappearance. He has always denied any
wrongdoing. But the whole situation has left the
family wary.

It is something the NSW Police Force is
conscious of: Ms Vaughan's case is in the hands
of Detective Inspector Guy Flaherty, an
experienced investigator who is based at
Professional Standards Command.

A police spokesman said he continued to
receive information and that the investigation
into Ms Vaughan's disappearance was ''very much
active and ongoing''.

''The decision to appoint the detective
inspector was taken to address concerns about
the integrity of the original investigation that
were later found to be unproven,'' the spokesman
said.

Police have also offered a $100,000 reward
for information about Ms Vaughan's case.

But her family has opted to push on with
their own investigation. Through a third party,
they have been taking statements from potential
witnesses and carrying out searches.

''Someone says to us she's buried out
here, so we go out there and we see a tiny
triangle of blue tarp sticking out of the
ground, '' Kylie Curnuck said. ''Your heart is
about to come out your throat. You think, if
something pops out, I don't want to see this but
I have to do it.

Crime Reporter

The family of a woman missing for 11 years and
feared murdered say that anyone with information on
her fate should contact them – even if they've
previously spoken to the police.

A family member told Fairfax that placing
their trust in the police "hasn't got us anywhere".

Janine Vaughan was last seen getting into a
car in the central western town of Bathurst early
one morning in December 2001.

The advert taken out by the family.

Her family placed an advertisement in the
town's local paper last weekend, asking anyone with
information to get in touch.

"Even information previously given to police
may be of assistance to the family in their search
for Janine," the advertisement reads. The family's
name appears to have been misspelt in the ad.

Ms Vaughan's sister, Kylie Curnuck, said the
family had become frustrated by what they see as a
lack of progress in the investigation, which at one
stage was the subject of a Police Integrity
Commission inquiry.

"We've got 11 years coming up and we still are
not further ahead now than when we started," Ms
Curnuck said.

"We want the public to come forward to us,
tell us anything, it doesn't matter what it is, we
will look into it."

The family said a number of people who lived
in Bathurst at the time Ms Vaughan went missing have
already got in touch with them after the
advertisement appeared in last Saturday's edition of
The Western Advocate.

"These people might feel safer coming to us
than they would coming to police," Ms Curnuck said.
"We have tried to trust the police for 11 years and
that hasn't got us anywhere. I just want answers
now."

Ms Vaughan's last known movements were caught
on security footage at Bathurst's Metro Tavern
nightclub. That night, she drank and danced with
friends until she left about 3.47am.

Two police strike forces, the Police Integrity
Commission inquiry and a coronial inquest have
failed to provide any clues as to who was driving
the car she got into, or what happened next.

The Vaughan family said there have been a
number of flaws in the decade-long investigation.
Initially, police sought a salmon-pink Hyundai but
now believe the car involved was a red sedan.

Ms Vaughan's work diary, where she would have
logged unusual dealings with customers at the
menswear store she managed, went missing. There were
also allegations that evidence given by witnesses
and friends in the early stages of the investigation
was left out of statements.

Then, to add to the family's scepticism, the
officer who oversaw the police investigation in its
early stage was named as a person of interest in Ms
Vaughan's disappearance at the coronial inquest
eight years later.

Brad Hosemans, a sergeant at Bathurst police
station, was one of three men (along with local
pharmacist Andrew Jones and an aged care centre
wardsman, Denis Briggs) to be named as a person of
interest at the 2009 inquest.

At that coronial inquiry, Detective Inspector
Peter Houlihan said witnesses recalled Ms Vaughan
had expressed concerns about Mr Hosemans's actions
towards her. These concerns were alleged to have
been noted in the lost diary.

Mr Hosemans was interviewed by police and
officers drilled through a concrete floor at his
Bathurst home as part of their investigation.

The police, the Police Integrity Commission
and the coroner have all cleared Mr Hosemans of any
involvement in Ms Vaughan's disappearance. He has
always denied any wrongdoing.

Police declined to comment on the
investigation when contacted.

Review for Janine case

By Jacinta Carroll -
Western Advocate

Dec. 12, 2012, 4:30 a.m.

THE investigation into missing Bathurst
woman Janine Vaughan has been referred to the
unsolved homicide team for a full review.

Ms Vaughan, who disappeared 11 years ago,
was last seen accepting a lift with a stranger
at the corner of George and Keppel streets after
a night out with friends at The Tavern.

Her family, who were in Bathurst for the
anniversary of the disappearance, told the
Western Advocate last Friday that they were
pushing for the case to be reopened, adding if
that happened the outcome “would be huge”.

And 48 hours later, Detective
Superintendent Mick Willing of the Sydney-based
Homicide Unit confirmed the case would be
reviewed.

Ms Vaughan’s brother Adam yesterday
welcomed the news that homicide were taking over
the investigation from the Professional
Standards Unit, saying he hoped something would
come out of the development.

Since Janine disappeared 11 years ago two
strike forces and a Police Integrity Commission
investigation, which looked at allegations of
police corruption in the case failed to find out
what really happened to the vivacious store
manager.

In September 2009, after 10 days of
evidence over two hearings, State Coroner Mary
Jerram found Janine Vaughan had been murdered by
a person or persons unknown and her body
disposed of in such a means that is has not been
found.

However, refusing to give up, the family
initiated their own investigation and in the
last two years have spent countless nights
talking to people and trying to find out what
really happened to her.

The decision by police to review the case
was announced on Monday.

At the same time it emerged a woman had
contacted the family about a handbag she found
two-and-a-half years after Ms Vaughan
disappeared.

The woman told the family the bag, which
she found in a drain near The Scots School
contained documents relating to Ms Vaughan
inside the bag.

While there is now no trace of the bag -
which, as Mr Vaughan said, had gone missing like
Ms Vaughan’s diary - the news has given the
family a new hope.

“It’s massive,” Adam said of the
development, adding it also raised many more
questions.

“Was she alive longer than just that night
[December 7, when she disappeared]?” he asked.

“And who put the bag there? Did she put it
there to let someone know something had gone
wrong?”

Mr Vaughan said the family had other
explosive information, which could not be made
public at this point.

He said the family was happy that homicide
was taking over the case, but after their
experience they were still wary.

Police review Janine
Vaughan's disappearance

Posted
Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:42am AEDT - ABC

The mother of a woman who
vanished in the central west more than a decade ago
says she is relieved police have agreed to review
the case.

The Unsolved Homicide Squad is investigating
the disappearance of Janine Vaughan, who was last
seen getting in a small red car in Bathurst in 2001.

An inquest in 2009 found she had been murdered
by an unknown person or people.

Janine's mother, Jenny, says she hopes that
this time the family will get some answers.

"Extremely happy, very happy, we feel more
positive this time.

"We've gathered up a bit of information and
people are coming forward, so we are extremely
happy, very excited and hopefully something will
come of it it this time."

She says now is the time for anyone who knows
anything about the case to come forward.

"If anybody has got any information, please
come forward, don't keep it to yourselves any
longer, because it must be tearing your hearts out I
think, it must be driving you crazy.

"I know how it's driving us crazy not knowing
and whoever has done this needs to pay."